The first showdown between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was closely watched not only in the US but around the world.
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| Kamala Harris and Donald Trump |
The debate in Philadelphia featured some tense exchanges on foreign policy between the two presidential candidates.
From Beijing to Budapest, here's how the debate went down, according to BBC foreign correspondents.
Kamala Harris told Donald Trump that President Putin is “a dictator who would eat you for lunch.”
The expression "to eat someone for lunch" (or breakfast, or any other meal) doesn’t exist in Russian. But one thing you will find in Moscow is the appetite for a US election result that benefits Russia.
The Kremlin will have noted (with pleasure) that in the debate Trump sidestepped the question about whether he wants Ukraine to win the war.
“I want the war to stop,” replied Trump.
By contrast, Harris spoke of Ukraine’s “righteous defence” and accused Vladimir Putin of having “his eyes on the rest of Europe”.
Later the Kremlin claimed to have been irked by all mentions of Putin in the debate.
“Putin’s name is used as one of the instruments for the internal battle in the US,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told me.
"We don’t like this and hope they will keep our president’s name out of this.”
Last week Putin claimed he was backing Harris in the election and praised her “infectious laugh.”
Later a Russian state TV anchor clarified that Putin had been “slightly ironic” in his comments.
The presenter was dismissive of Harris’ political skills and suggested she would be better off hosting a TV cooking show.
source: bbc